Appeal No. 1998-2224
Application No. 08/624,147
transfer zone are provided by indirect heat exchange, followed
by a particular sequence of separation steps (Brief, pages 4-
6). A copy of illustrative claim 1 is attached as an Appendix
to this decision.1
The examiner has relied upon the following references as
evidence of obviousness:
Dexheimer et al. (Dexheimer) 5,141,662 Aug. 25,
1992
Keefer 5,256,172 Oct. 26,
1993
Dandekar et al. (Dandekar) 5,449,696 Sep. 12,
1995
(filed Aug. 1, 1994)
Tsuchiyama et al. (Tsuchiyama) 52-124002 Oct. 18,
1977
(published Japanese Patent Bulletin)
Hirai et al. (JP ‘436) 58-049436 Mar. 23,
1983
(published Japanese kokai)2
1We note that claim 1 as found in both the Appendix to
the Brief, Paper No. 9, and the Supplemental Appendix dated
Jan. 24, 2001, Paper No. 12, fail to recite step (c) of claim
1 on appeal. The copy of claim 1 attached as an Appendix to
this decision is taken from the claim as amended May 7, 1997,
Paper No. 6.
2We rely upon and cite from English translations of both
the Tsuchiyama and JP ‘436 documents, previously made of
record.
2
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